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| India-Pakistan |
| Thirty eight militants killed in Bajaur action |
| 2010-06-17 |
| [Dawn] Pakistani attack helicopters and heavy artillery on Wednesday killed 38 militants in a tribal district on the Afghan border where commanders had said the Taliban were purged, officials said. The fierce fighting also left 10 paramilitary soldiers dead, they said. Pakistani troops have been fighting in Bajaur since August 2008, trying to smash Taliban and Al-Qaeda hideouts, but there are indications that militants are trying to make yet another comeback. Commanders claimed victory in February 2009 but violence returned when the military switched attention to fighting the Taliban in South Waziristan and Swat, elsewhere in the northwest. Troops mounted another offensive in Bajaur earlier this year and declared the terrain again free of Taliban in March. But Wednesday, troops swung into action in Ghaundu and Samsai villages about 14 kilometres (nine miles) southwest of Khar, the main town in Bajaur. Local administration official Tahir Khan said helicopter gunships and long range artillery opened fire following intelligence reports that some Taliban militants had again infiltrated from neighbouring Mohmand district. "At least 38 militants were killed and 10 soldiers were martyred," Bajaur administration chief Zakir Hussain Afridi told reporters as he showed 18 bodies of militants in the presence of local forces commanders. The security forces destroyed two Taliban hideouts and arrested 23 militants during the clashes, he added. Officials said Taliban had issued pamphlets warning their comrades not to surrender or accept government job offers. Posters have also been pasted in markets and at the gates to mosques, local administration chief Adalat Khan told AFP. "The move appears to be a Taliban effort to terrorise people and say they are still present in the area," he said. Local residents quoted the Pahstu-language poster as warning: "We would ask people, who fell prey to government propaganda, to repent for their sin, otherwise we will take action against them." The government fixed June 30 as a deadline for militants to surrender their arms in return for jobs on the local police force, officials said. Failure to surrender would see their homes destroyed, they added. |
| Posted by:Fred |